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Little Palaces Lyrics

Artist: Elvis Costello
Album: King Of America

In Chocolate Town all the trains are painted brownOn the silver paper of the wrapperThere's a dapper little manAnd he wears a wax moustacheThat he twists with nicotine fingersAs he drops his cigarette ashAnd someone comes and sweeps it upAnd then he doffs his capAnd there's a rat in someone's bedroomAnd they're shutting someone's trapAnd they'll soon be pulling down the little palaces

And the doors swing back and forward, from the past into the presentAnd the bedside crucifixion turns from wood to phosphorescent.And they're moving problem families from the South up to the North,Mother's crying over some soft soap opera divorce,And you say you didn't do it, but you know you did of course,And they'll soon be pulling down the little palaces.

It's like shouting in a matchbox, filled with plasterboard and hope,Like a picture of Prince William in the arms of John the Pope.There's a world of good intentions, and pity in their eyes,The sedated homes of England, are theirs to vandalize.

So you knock the kids about a bit, because they've got your name,And you knock the kids about a bit, until they feel the same.And they feel like knocking down the little palaces.

You're the twinkle in your daddy's eye, a name you spray and scribble,You made the girls all turn their heads, and in turn they made you miserable.To be the heir apparent, to the kingdom of the invisible.

So you knock the kids about a bit, because they've got your name,And you knock the kids about a bit, until they feel the same.And they feel like knocking down the little palaces.